


When It Happens

by Anotherlostblogger



Category: Buzzfeed Unsolved (Web Series)
Genre: Blink and you'll miss it Daddy Kink, Bottom Ryan, Constant banter, First Time, Friends to Lovers, Inability to take things seriously, Light BDSM, M/M, Making Out, Porn Watching, Resolved Sexual Tension, Sexting, Unresolved Sexual Tension, light choking kink, spooky locales, the buzzfeed challenge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-30
Updated: 2018-03-30
Packaged: 2019-04-14 21:47:57
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,790
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14145279
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anotherlostblogger/pseuds/Anotherlostblogger
Summary: At some point Ryan and Shane stopped being just friends. That tension has been there just thrumming under the surface, waiting for the right moment to be released but it’s like a valve, slowly turned so it starts out trickling until they’re caught in the overflow.





	When It Happens

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Round 1 of the Buzzfeed Challenge on Tumblr!

It’s almost happened so many times.

Looking back, Ryan can see that now, but the first time he’s aware that it almost happens, Shane is sprawled out on Ryan’s couch and they’re on their second movie of the night. It’s eleven thirty and they’re shooting the next day so they really shouldn’t stay up that late, but Ryan’s willing to go through the day on coffee and fumes if it means he doesn’t have to finish the newest Saw film on his own.

Ryan is curled up on the couch like he does when they’re at a scary part in the movie, his knees pressed to his chest, his mouth slack as he watches the carnage Jigsaw wreaks on the unsuspecting victims. It’s getting intense (and okay, a little gross) when Shane abruptly grabs Ryan’s ankle and he screams bloody murder.

Shane is almost doubled-over laughing while Ryan’s heart rate slowly goes back to normal, “D-don’t do that, man!” he says, giving Shane’s side a good half-hearted kick.Shane catches his ankle again and runs a finger along the underside of his socked foot. This time when Ryan yelps it only makes mischief sparkle more clearly in his eyes.

“Stop!” Ryan absolutely doesn’t squeal as he pulls his foot back to himself, but he can’t help laughing when Shane makes a creepy grabby motion with his hands.

“Just checking on you, man,” Shane says, eyes dancing in the blue-light of the tv. “You looked a little...intense.”

“Are you serious?!” Ryan asks incredulously, pointing at the screen, “Of course I’m a little tense, have you seen what-” he glances at the television in time to see someone currently getting hacked to bits. “Oh, Jesus Christ.” Ryan grimaces and he scrambles for the remote before pushing pause.

Shane is still chuckling, and Ryan shakes his head at him.

"It’s cute how easily you’re drawn in-” Shane teases him.

"What, are you bored?” Ryan asks, definitively not pouting.

“I didn’t say that,” Shane says languidly, and Ryan slowly lets his feet go back to their place where they were resting before against Shane’s thigh, his toes pressing against Shane’s jeans.

“I’m just not scared by movie magic.”

Ryan rolls his eyes at him.

“But if I _was_ bored,” Shane drawls, and his hands teasingly going back to Ryan’s feet—despite his nervous reflexes Ryan doesn’t pull them away quite yet, instead he allows himself to feel Shane’s bony thumb press into the the notch on his ankle as the lanky man asks, “What would you recommend?”

Ryan wonders if he’s missing something here, because Shane isn’t quite looking at him, but he’s rubbing his feet, and it feels….good,really good….

“I guess if you’re bored we can always call it quits,” Ryan says, and Shane’s hand stops. Why does that make him want to take back what he just said?

“I mean,” Ryan stammers when Shane does look at him,“it’s getting late.”

“That’s true,” Shane agrees, and when he presses his thumb back into the arch of Ryan’s foot Ryan lets out a quiet gasp that makes Shane’s eyes flicker back to him.

Slowly, methodically, Shane lets go of his foot and scoots himself off the couch. “I guess we’ll do that, then.”

“Okay,” Ryan says, and he can’t understand why he suddenly feels disappointed. What is he disappointed about? Not finishing the movie?

Ryan walks him to his door. “Guess you don’t need to know what happens at the end—”

“No,” Shane agrees.

“Guess by the bajillionth movie it gets a little boring,” Ryan adds as he opens the door of his apartment for him, and if it sounds a little self-deprecating, that might be because it is. He’s enjoyed their movie nights. He can’t help it if he doesn’t find tropes to be as dull as Shane does but he hopes this isn’t the end of their tradition, that he isn’t getting bored of him.

“It might,” Shane intones carefully, but he’s looking at him like he can see right through him, and it makes Ryan shift his feet under his careful hawk-eyed scrutiny.

“But you’re not,” Shane says, his eyes flickering like he’s reading him, “You’re not boring.”

Ryan feels a blush creep up his neck. “Oh. That’s good,” he says and he lets out a nervous little laugh. Why is he nervous all of a sudden?

“It is,” Shane says and he has this little knowing smile that Ryan knows and loves and hates all at the same time.

“Well. Goodnight,” Ryan says, because he doesn’t know what else to do when Shane is looking at him like that, but Shane leans in, closer and closer until Ryan’s heart is hammering like it was during the movie and Ryan should say something, should move away, but he doesn’t and when Shane says “Goodnight,” his lips ghost over Ryan’s in the most delicate trace of a kiss.

Ryan’s eyes flutter closed. By the time he opens them Shane is gone.

Movie magic.

♚♔♚♔♚♔

The next time they’re on location for a shoot.

It’s not this season’s demon episode (thank god) but it’s still a pretty fucking scary house that’s in the middle of bumfuck nowhere, America, and Ryan’s a little on the edge.

“You’re gonna need to calm down, man,” Shane says, infuriatingly at peace with all of the crazy shit that’s gone down so far tonight including an EVP that sounded terrifyingly like ‘Get out, now!’

“Are you serious?” Ryan asks and his voice is doing that high-pitched thing again, and Shane is looking at him like he’s losing his mind again, and it’s so infuriating but at the same time Ryan is almost so scared he doesn’t care if Shane treats him like a baby.

“That was definitely a voice, and it definitely wanted us to get out, and-”

“Ryan, at most that was a neighborhood cat,” Shane says, and Ryan feels his blood boil.

_ “A cat?!” _

“Okay, okay,” Shane holds his hands up placatingly. “You want to get out of here?” he asks, holding the promise of escape in front of him like a tantalizing treat. “Then get in that spooky room, talk to something—or nothing—for a few minutes, and then we can go.”

Ryan freezes. His eyes cut to Shane and then back to the room where the owner of the house had supposedly been strangled to death by a vengeful spirit.

The promise of leaving early was almost worth the risk.

“I don’t know-” he says dubiously but Shane comes in front of him, showing off all of his gear like he liked to do when he was reminding Ryan of how ridiculous he found all of this.

“Well, I do,” he said, securing the body camera back on Ryan’s chest. “Just a few lousy minutes with a ghosty and we can go back to the hotel and eat our leftovers.”

Ryan’s eyes flicker up to Shane as he gives his vest another tug. “Well, I...I would like to eat the rest of my burrito,” he says, trying to convince himself as much as anything.

“There you go,” Shane says cheerily, and he puts his hands on either side of Ryan’s shoulders and guides him to the door. “Now off you go. I’ll set the timer.” 

Ryan pauses just in the doorway. “Wait...how many minutes?” he asks, trying not to sound as nervous as he feels.

“Seven,” Shane says like he picked the number from the ether.

“Seven?!” Ryan asks, beginning to back out, “No, no, no-no way, I’m not fucking...playing _seven minutes in heaven_ with a poltergeist.”

Shane is laughing at him because of course he is, but he gives Ryan another push into the room. “Why not?” he teases him, “It’d be the most action you’ve had in months.”

Ryan turns around, eyes flashing, but his grin belies his words as he says “Fuck you,” but Shane just winks at him and shuts the door in his face.

Alone in the dark, Ryan immediately hates it.

“Fuck,” he says quietly, “Fuck, fuck, fuck, I hate this.” His luminous eyes shoot back towards the door, “Shane?!”

“Six and a half more minutes,” Shane’s muffled voice reports and Ryan swallows thickly, shaking as he takes out and turns on the spirit box.

“Okay, okay, okay….if...if there’s anyone in here, with me, if the...if the owner of this house, if the spirit of Mr. Holland is still around,” he says shakily, “M-my name’s Ryan. Can you speak to me? Make a noise, say my name?”

At first all there is is deafening static in the darkness of the room, which on its own isnt exactly comforting, but then he hears it: _“Ry’n.”_

“Holy shit,” Ryan whispers, and he might have just peed a little.

“Did you just? I think…. Okay, okay.” He takes a steadying breath, “What...happened to you? Who killed you?”

There’s another moment of indistinguishable static but then: _“Death. Come. First.”_

“What?” Ryan whips his head around, eyes wide as lanterns. “Did you just...what?!”

It continues, each word only adding piercing dread into Ryan’s heart: _“It. Hap. To.”_

“To? Too? What happened?” Ryan asks. “Who killed you?”

_“Bran. Nice. Cut. Life.”_  

The rest is gibberish, but Ryan is startled enough to hammer on the door. “Shane!”

“Three minutes and seven seconds left!”

“Shane, no. It spoke to me! I...I think it’s talking to me!”

“Great!” Even muffled, his voice sounds sarcastic. “Keep on talkin’!”

There’s a pause, and then from the static the spirit box says, _“Shane,”_ and Ryan screams and...drops the device where it clatters to the floor.

The door suddenly pulls back and Ryan jumps as he is illuminated by Shane’s flashlight. He’s shaking, startled by both the spirit box and his own foolishness in dropping a piece of expensive equipment. It’s still going though and Ryan can’t bring himself to touch it, so Shane comes over, bends down and switches it off.

“You okay?” Shane asks cautiously, and Ryan nods, but he’s trembling when Shane’s hands rest on his shoulders like they did earlier, a steadying force.

“It said your name,” he confesses.

“And you got...jealous?” Shane inquires with a raised eyebrow, looking at the device from where it lies on the ground.

Ryan blushes. “What? No. I didn’t throw it in some sort of jealous rage, I dropped it.”

“In a skittish rage,” Shane agrees, and Ryan can’t help but wheeze. “Shut up, Shane.”

Shane winks at him again, squeezing the meat of his shoulders with his hands, but Ryan lets out a nervous laugh. “S-sorry for scaring you.”

“You didn’t scare me,” Shane says in his cool-as-a-cucumber voice, and he drops his arms but it’s Ryan’s turn to smirk. “Sure.”

“You didn’t,” Shane insists but Ryan laughs, “Okay, man, whatever you say, you did open that door pretty quick when I screamed, maybe because you thought a ghost was getting me-”

“Or because I thought you tripped over your own two feet,” Shane says and Ryan scoffs: “I’m not the one with bambi legs, bigfoot.”

“No, but you’re the one with butterfingers,” Shane taunts him and Ryan blushes again.

“I knew I was going to have to come see what scraps of equipment we could salvage that you’d just dropped.”

“Don’t pretend like you care about the spirit box for once,” Ryan says and Shane’s mouth does a few complicated things as he clearly tries to come up with an excuse.

“If it was in pieces you’d be happy.”

“Okay, so that may be true,” Shane says finally, clearly unable to defend the spirit box even for the sake of a pretend argument.

“Aha! So you do care about me,” Ryan teases him, and Shane rolls his eyes, stepping around the spirit box on his way back out to leave the room, but Ryan picks up the box and chases him into the hallway.

“I knew it,” Ryan crows, unable to let anything go. “Rushing to my aid…” he bats his eyelashes at Shane whose face is obscured in the light without his flashlight on it, “My hero.”

“Maybe I liked you better when you were scared,” Shane drawls and Ryan lets out a sound between a laugh and a gasp: “Holy shit.”

Shane turns to him, a sharp, unapologetic grin on his face: “At least in that room I couldn’t hear all your gloating for saving your ass.”

Ryan bent over laughing, “S-saving my ass? I wasn’t in any danger-”

Shane turns to him, triumphant, and Ryan immediately regrets what he’s done. “Ooo! Score one for the Shaniacs.”

“Shit,” Ryan giggles, “That’s not what I meant.”

“Yes it is, yes it is,” Shane crows. “You and your big mouth had to give it away.” 

“Shit!” Ryan laughs, conceding. “Maybe I should stop talking.”

“Maybe you should ‘shut up, Ryan,’” Shane mocks him in a poor imitation of his voice, getting in his face and grinning like a delirious maniac.

“Maybe you should make me,” Ryan says without thinking, but before he can correct himself or add any caveats that sound less embarrassingly like an invitation to make out, Shane grabs his face and kisses him.

Ryan almost drops the spirit box again, in fact he almost yelps when it seems to want to fall out of his hands no matter what he does until he realizes that it’s Shane taking it from him, and setting it, somewhat gently on the ground, one hand wrapped around Ryans wrist, the other somewhere near his waist so that they seem to be doing some sort of dance as Shane walks him backward until his back hits the wall.

“Shane,” Ryan says but it sounds like a sigh, and Shane chases after his mouth.

“Yeah, baby?” he asks against his lips and his voice sounds so husky Ryan melts.

Shane’s whiskery jaw brushes against Ryan’s cheek and he sighs again, his hand going to Shane’s hair, finding it as soft as he’d not even known he’d wondered about, and his eyes flutter closed.

For a moment, Ryan completely forgets that they’re in a haunted location or that either of them have body cameras that are on and recording right in this moment, but the moment is over the second that they hear TJ clear his throat from behind them. Ryan’s eyes flit open and Shane closes his in what might be embarrassment.

“Maybe we can wrap up the video first, gentleman,” Teej says, and Shane pulls a face that makes Ryan giggle despite his initial mortification at being caught. If he was worried that Shane might pretend none of this happened, Shane leaves a lingering kiss that burns into Ryan’s mind before he steps back, hands in the air like TJ has a gun trained on him.

“We’re working,” he says innocently and Teej rolls his eyes.

“Yeah, yeah, great fan-service there, Romeos. We’re not out of the woods, yet.”

When Shane hands the spirit box back to Ryan their hands brush, and then they make their way out to the front of the house to slate their last thoughts.

When they go out to the truck, Shane’s hand brushes against Ryan’s more than once until Ryan takes the plunge and takes his hand in his own. To his relief, Shane doesn’t pull away but gives him a squeeze.

They’re sharing a hotel room with Matt and Teej, which means they’re sharing beds again to save money, but also means they don’t get any privacy so there’s all of the intimacy without any question about how far it’ll go.

They all eat their leftovers in relative peace, all four of them tired and left alone with their thoughts. 

When Shane strips down to his t-shirt and boxers Ryan tries not to look, but he’s not sure if Shane looks away when he does the same thing.

Matt and Teej have their own pillow-wall arrangement going on in their bed, sleeping with their backs to one another, but without even verbally deciding to, Shane and Ryan don’t set one up tonight.

The moment the lamp goes out, Shane’s hand finds his in the dark.

♚♔♚♔♚♔

Things go on in much this way for some weeks as they begin to get used to this new layer to the dynamic that is Ryan-and-Shane (Shane-and-Ryan).

In many ways not much changes. They still banter at work, still give each other a hard time and argue over everything from ghosts to where they’re eating for lunch that day, and they still have movie nights at Ryan’s like they used to. Sure, there’s now the added bonus of being dragged into closets to make out at work, and alright, more movie nights than others Ryan finds himself pressed into the couch with Shane on top of him kissing him like he means to swallow him whole—but somehow the lanky Chicagoan still manages to pull away just as it’s really beginning to get good and bid him farewell like he hasn’t completely rocked his world and left him hard in his jeans and boxer-shorts.

If he hadn’t felt Shane’s own sizeable length pressed against his thigh when they’ve been making out he might begin to worry that he’s more into it than Shane is, or that he’s scaring him away, but no, it would just appear that Shane is doing his damndest to take things slow.

Ryan’s not had as much experience with men as he thinks Shane has (which isn’t hard as he’s had next to none) but while he’s fully expected anxiety over this, it’s been closer to butterflies than bears on the terrifying scale. If he’s honest with himself, he’s never wanted anyone more. Maybe that should scare him, but it doesn’t.

It’s gotten to the point where he’s watching gay porn for the first time in his life (and trying not to get intimidated or freaked out by all of the contortionist shit happening in the videos) and has bought, really, an absurdly-sized bottle of lube from Costco that came with a little travel pack that he’s brought with him on every trip since that night just in case—not that they’ve had the opportunity since all of their rooms had been doubles planned in advance.

In any respect, the times they have shared a bed since ‘getting together’ have remained remarkably PG. Matt and Teej worked better than a chastity belt, Ryan thought mournfully. The last time, Teej has shot him a look that made him wonder if he’d gone digging in his bag or if he just knew, somehow, and was afraid he and Shane were gonna start fucking while he was just lying in the bed right next to them.

Whenever Shane finally sees the industrial-sized bottle he’ll probably laugh at him, but at this point, Ryan doesn’t care. Whenever Shane is ready to touch him he wants to be prepared (and an ex-Boy Scout should appreciate that, shouldn’t he?)

♚♔♚♔♚♔

The next time isn’t until a month into this new not-quite-dating thing.

He and Shane are back at his apartment editing footage on his couch when he asks Shane for his opinion on something that’s sent a shiver down his spine.

“Can you listen to this EVP for me?” he asks, and Shane gives him a baleful look.

“Please?” Ryan isn’t above pouting.

Shane’s eyes narrow. “Fine.”

Ryan beams. “I’m sure you’ll find it compelling,” he says eagerly as Shane settles in against his side.

“I’m sure I won’t,” Shane says simply as he takes Ryan’s laptop and sets it on his lap, taking Ryan’s headphones gently off his ears and placing them over his own. “But I’ll give it a shot, anyway.”

Ryan’s eyes scan Shane’s features as he presses play, looking for any sign of recognition.

“Well? What’d you hear?” he asks after the seven-second clip plays.

Shane hesitates. “Ryan-”

“What’d you hear? C’mon.”

“Maybe….a ‘ _Who’s that?’”_ Shane says reluctantly, and Ryan fist-bumps the air, leaping off the couch. “YEAH! That’s what I’m talking about!”

Shane shakes his head at him while Ryan does a little victory lap around the coffee table.

Shane chuckles despite himself, “Y-you’re ridiculous, you know that. It was just a coincidence.”

“Just a coincidence?!” Ryan squawks, stopping his little dance to glower at the other man. “Are you serious?!”

Shane takes off the headphones, placating him, “Ryan, you know that-”

“No, no, you listen to it a couple more times,” Ryan insists, pointing at him, “You heard it say it!”

“Ryan-”

“No,” Ryan held up his hands. “I’m gonna go pee, you listen to it a few more times and then we’ll talk.”

And like a good not-quite-boyfriend, Shane put the headphones back over his ear, and got back to it.

When Ryan comes back from relieving himself he almost does another dance when he sees the look of concentration on Shane’s face. Whatever he’s watching really has his attention. Jackpot.

It’s hard to keep from strutting to where Shane is, but Shane doesn’t seem to notice he’s come back yet, so he sneaks around the couch to look over his shoulder and see…. Porn.

Explicit interracial gay porn.

It only takes Ryan a second to recognize the video he’d been watching when he’d masturbated this morning, and he realizes it must’ve been open in his browser window.

It’s at the part where the actors are still pretending like they’re not just about to fuck, when clearly they are, talking breathlessly without any shirts on and really, way too oiled-up for a normal conversation in a kitchen, waiting for just any excuse (in this one it’s to make up for a late rent payment, or something equally ridiculous).

In any case, the moment the taller, paler pornstar has the shorter, darker man against the wall, Ryan feels like Shane is given a glimpse into some of his most private fantasies that they absolutely have not talked about yet.

“Oh my god,” Ryan says in quiet mortification, and Shane jolts like he just realized Ryan is there. Caught.

“Jesus Christ, I’m sorry-” Ryan says, trying to take his laptop back but Shane holds it out of reach, “Wait, I’m not finished yet,” Shane says, and Ryan feels his face heat up further. “Shane.”

“Ohh, look at that, that looks complicated,” Shane says thoughtfully and if Ryan hadn’t just peed he might piss his pants laughing in embarrassment as he lifts himself up and crawls over the couch to try to take it back from him.

“Shane,” Ryan tries again, pulling at the laptop but Shane holds it above his head so that Ryan ends up straddling him to grab it from his greedy hands. “Shane, give it back-”

“I need to know what happens with Don and Juan,” Shane says, eyes twinkling, and Ryan covers his face with his hands, “I’m not sure if I’m going to kill you first or if I’m just going to die.”

“If you die first you won’t be able to kill me,” Shane says helpfully.

“Shane,” Ryan groans. “I will haunt your ass.”

“Hey,” Shane says in a soothing voice that makes Ryan peek from between his fingers, “You were right... I _did_ find something compelling on your laptop.”

Ryan laughs despite himself and drops his hands. “You dick.”

Shane winks at him, “I think I can take that as a compliment...I mean, wow! Look at them go,” he says, pointing back at the screen where ‘Don’ and ‘Juan’ are really going at it.

“Jesus Christ,” Ryan says meekly and Shane laughs.

“Is this what you’re into?” he asks him, eyes sparkling with mischief and maybe something else.

“What?” Ryan asks dryly, “Public humiliation?”

Shane wheezes with laughter. “Don’t be ridiculous. This isn’t even in public, and it’s not humiliating.”

Ryan hums dubiously.

“My laptop search history isn’t exactly sparkling clean itself,” Shane offers and Ryan has to smile.

“Well-okay…” he begins to concede. Watching porn? Not weird. Even if they sort of vaguely are like him and Shane. Good to know.

Shane’s face is carefully blank and that should have been warning enough before he says:

“Is this why you bought all that lube?”

Ryan almost chokes on his spit. “What?!”

“The lube in your bathroom.” Shane says as casually as possible, though his smile has given away any devious intentions there may be, and Ryan’s face is possibly as red the sirens going off in his head. “Is it for all of your...porn habits?”

“My porn hab-I…kept it under my sink!” Ryan gasps, but Shane laughs. “I saw it when I had to get more toilet paper last week.”

“Oh my god,” Ryan says, and he does melt a little but Shane drops the laptop unceremoniously on the cushion next to him to loop his arms around Ryan’s waist and keep him on his lap.

“Somebody’s been a horny boy,” Shane says in a silly voice, and despite his own furiously blushing face Ryan throws his head back and laughs.

“You sound like...like a pervy Santa Claus,” Ryan says, almost crying with laughter and Shane’s eyes do that adorable thing where they crinkle with how much he’s smiling. “Ho-ho-ho,” he says in a deep voice and Ryan can’t help his giggle.

“Santa, is that you?” he asks in a cutesy kid voice and Shane goes “It is- it’s-it’s-it’s” like a broken record and Ryan laughs loudly.

“This is...this is getting weird,” Shane says and Ryan can’t stop smiling.

“It definitely is,” he agrees, “I can’t say that I want to fuck Santa Claus.”

“That’s-” Shane breaks off like he can’t quite believe they’re having this conversation and Ryan laughs again, delighted at how easy it is to fluster him. 

“That’s good,” Shane says finally, and Ryan wants to kiss him.

_“But,”_ Ryan says, high off endorphins, and their closeness, “I do want to fuck you,” and Shane closes the laptop next to them with a click and says “That’s _really_ good,” and pulls him in for a kiss.

They share a long, slow, sweet kiss, their mouths sliding together, open, as Shane takes his lower lip into his mouth and worries it between his teeth.

Ryan lets out a soft sound that is close to a moan, and then Shane pulls back, eyes sparkling. “Better bust out the lube!” he says magnanimously and Ryan bursts out laughing.

“Oh my _god._ You’re the worst.”

“Mm,” Shane agrees, but he’s already kissing him again, “I know.”

They begin to get lost in their kissing, and he can feel Shane’s interest growing against him and for a moment Ryan thinks it’s actually going to happen for real this time, but then, Shane’s phone starts ringing in his pocket, and he pulls away from Ryan’s mouth, “I need to see who that is,” he says and Ryan groans and crawls off his lap. “Fine,” he sighs, “Fine.”

“You’re not-" Shane begins hesitantly, and Ryan shakes his head at him, “Answer the phone.”

Shane says hello and suddenly sits taller like he does when it’s work, and he stands and walks out of the room, leaving Ryan to let his head fall back on the couch with a sigh.

Fuck.

When Shane comes back he looks excited, but tentatively so.

“What is it?” Ryan asks curiously and Shane can’t stop his smile from creeping up his face. “Um. Kelsey wants to go film another season of _Am I Doing This Right_ but in New York.”

“Oh,” Ryan says, and he pauses, “That’s…good.”

“And when I get back they’re gonna let me try out my idea for that _Ruining History_ show I want to do,” he adds in a rush, and Ryan sits up, “Oh shit! That’s awesome!”

“Yeah,” Shane gushes. “I mean, I don’t know if I’m sticking with the title, but—”

“No, I get it. Like you’re gonna tell wacky stories and shit, like ‘ruining history’ while also like, you know, castle ruins,” Ryan offers, and Shane’s eyes light up. “Yes, exactly.” He bends over to give Ryan a quick kiss. “You’re a genius.”

“Remember that when you listen to the next EVP,” Ryan offers with a laugh and Shane laughs too.

For a moment they just look at one another.

“I’ll be back before the next season of _Unsolved_ is ready to air,” he says, voicing one of the concerns that hangs between them in the air.

“No, no, yeah, that’ll….that’ll be fine. I’m happy for you.”

Shane beams and Ryan knows he’s said the right thing. 

♚♔♚♔♚♔

_Am I Doing This Right_ takes several weeks. Several weeks without Shane at his desk while Ryan edits footage, several Fridays watching horror movies alone. Several nights jacking off by himself in the dark.

He imagines that Shane would criticize his porn choices but that only leads to more interesting fantasies.

He has a dildo now, a reasonably-sized one that he figures will help him work his way up to the idea of doing Shane when he gets back.

His first instinct is to try to stick it in his mouth. It’s an unnatural color—a vibrant blue, but the flesh-colored ones had creeped him out too much so he just has to handle the image of sucking off an alien dick.

It’s a little big, but he has a decent-sized mouth and at one point he tries sticking it in so deep he starts drooling.

He takes a couple selfies and admires the angle of his jaw, his hand pressed just-so around his neck, the slight bulge in his cheek and the glassy-eyed come-hither look he’s perfected in it before he hesitates over whether or not to send them to Shane. They’ve never done anything like this before, maybe it’d be a little much.

They FaceTime each other a lot before Shane goes to bed (considering the three hour time difference), so that’s something. Ryan’s even called him once when he had a nightmare and Shane didn’t even get mad even though it was closer to four am in New York.

That doesn’t mean that he hasn’t noticed that underlying tension that makes him nervous.

He know’s he’s being paranoid but he can’t help but think how they haven’t exactly sealed the deal yet. What happens if Shane meets someone else?

That decides it for him. 

He sends a couple of the best shots with a simple message: _Wish you were here._

He watches the chat bubble appear and disappear seven times in over two minutes, heart hammering in his chest as he wonders if it’s too late to send a ‘haha just kidding’ retraction, but finally Shane responds with a single word: _Tease._

Ryan’s heart pounds and he waits, unsure of what else to send, until he gets a picture back. It’s clearly in the backseat of some vehicle, the flash is on, and it’s an overhead shot of Shane’s crotch—or rather, the outline of his hard cock in his jeans.

A minute later and there’s another text.

_ [Shane: 8:12pm PT]: I’m sorry you only have plastic to work with for now. _

Ryan replies probably too quickly: _Just making do until you come back._

[Shane: 8:15pm PT]: _I know, baby. Good boy._

Ryan furiously masturbates after that and almost crashes before nine. Shane sends him drunk, utterly safe-for-work selfies and Ryan realizes they’re out celebrating the wrap party, and Ryan’s heart skips a beat when he realizes this means Shane is coming home to him soon.

He’s in bed at midnight when Shane calls him, and he answers immediately.

“Ryaaan,” Shane slurs, “Baby. I miss you.”

Ryan sits up in bed and turns on the light. “Shane,” he says, smiling to himself, “I miss you too.”

“I can’t wait to see you-we’re gonna…have a good time,” Shane says too-loudly, and Ryan laughs, ears turning pink as he wonders if Shane’s alone right now or if he’s in a limo or uber, oversharing with the world.

“Oh yeah?” he says, because he can’t seem to help teasing him.

“Oh, _yeah,”_ Shane says, and its so flirty, Ryan blushes.

“Did you tell him?!” there’s a female voice somewhere in the background and Ryan’s heart flips until he recognizes it as Kelsey. She’s probably equally as drunk, if he knows her as well as he thinks he does.

“I’m telling him,” Shane says impatiently and Ryan’s smile widens in anticipation.

“Telling me what?”

“Y’all gonna fuck!” Kelsey says loudly against the receiver and Ryan lets out a peal of laughter, bending over in bed.

“Shane,” he wheezes, “Oh my god, are you all talking about me?”

“Only about how Shane needs to lay. it. all. down,” Kelsey says pointedly, and Ryan clutches his chest as he laughs.

“He does?!”

_“Yeah!"_  Kelsey squawks. “He does!”

“If he like’s it then he’s gotta put a ring on it baby,” come’s another very-drunk voice and Ryan’s nose scrunches up as he tries to place it. Garrett?

“I’ve got it handled,” Shane’s voice says from somewhere in the background. “One step….one step at a time, you can’t just…fuck and get married.”

“Sure you can!” Kelsey declares and Ryan dissolves into giggles.

“Ryan,” Shane’s voice is suddenly louder like he’s taken his phone back, “When we get back..we’re gonna….have a long… talk.”

It might’ve been worrisome if it weren’t for the obvious euphemism he placed into the word.

“Nice and long,” Garrett calls out.

“And thick,” Kelsey adds and Ryan laughs as he hears Shane failing to hush them.

“Goodnight Ryan,” Shane says loudly, like he’s trying to regain control of the conversation and Ryan giggles as he hears Garrett and Kelsey chiming in and saying goodnight in the background.

“Goodnight guys, goodnight Shane, see you soon, have a safe flight,” he says warmly and he hears the other two goons ‘aww’.

“Night, Ryan, love you,” Shane says almost without thinking, and there’s a brief pause where Ryan stares at the wall in surprise before Shane abruptly hangs up.

_Oh._

♚♔♚♔♚♔

A couple days later and they’re all back at LAX.

Ryan offered to pick them all up from the airport but they already have a ride planned, so instead Ryan orders pizza and cleans up his apartment and sends out a text suggesting that, if Shane isn’t too jet-lagged, he can come over for dinner.

Shane says yes.

Even though it’s the weekend and he hasn’t left the house today, Ryan makes sure his hair is styled and he smells good and he’s wearing a shirt that makes his arms look nice (he’s seen Shane look before).

There’s some nervous part of his mind that wonders if Kelsey and Garrett had jumped the shark. They were drunk, and maybe they were pushing Shane faster than he wanted to go. Maybe he really did want to sit down and have a ‘talk’ about boundaries or something he didn't even really want to consider. (Could you break up if you were never official in the first place?)

But the moment he opens the door Shane is in his space, his hands cupping his face and he kisses him and kisses him like they haven’t seen each other in years, and Ryan ends up almost falling over his own two feet with the way Shane is walking him backwards, so Shane ends up dipping him like it’s a dance, unwilling to separate from his lips for even a moment.

Ryan ends up propped against the wall as Shane kisses him, lips trailing over his jaw, his neck. “I missed you,” Shane breathes against him finally, and Ryan’s hands are is in his soft hair. “I missed you too,” he says shakily and Shane kisses him quiet.

From somewhere in the back of his mind, Ryan remembers the pizza he’d just placed in the oven.

“I…I got pizza,” he says between kisses and Shane smiles but doesn’t stop kissing him. “Great.”

“It’s-it’s in the oven,” he feels the need to add and Shane’s hand is now up his shirt so he can feel every callous as his large palm and long, thin fingers traverse his stomach and his chest.

“Wonderful,” Shane says, and he’s nibbling at his ear.

“It might burn,” Ryan offers meekly, and Shane’s thumb brushes over his nipple: It hardens under his touch and Ryan’s knees go weak.

“Fine by me,” Shane says, and Ryan lets out a breathless laugh.

“You’ll care if the apartment catches fire,” Ryan feels the need to say, and his hands dance over Shane’s bony hips.

“Will I?” Shane asks, smiling against his jaw and it takes all of his self-control to slip underneath Shane’s arm and slide into the kitchen.

“You will if we die before we ever get to fuck,” he says as he turns off the oven, but when he turns around Shane is there again.

“That,” Shane says, recapturing his lips, “Is true.” His hands go back to Ryan’s hips, “Day saved” he kisses him again, “My hero,” he plants another kiss on him, “please, show me a way I can express my gratitude.”

Ryan takes his hand, eyes sparkling, “I think I might know a way.”

Thankfully his room is clean.  It’s the first time Shane’s ever been in his bedroom but he has a feeling it won’t be the last.

There’s a (refillable) and reasonably sized bottle of lube on the side table and a box of condoms (if they need them)safely in the drawer with his dildo and they’re finally, finally in his bedroom, so Ryan takes his phone, and then slips his hand into Shane’s jeans to grab his phone, and makes a show of putting them both on airplane mode and setting them on the side table.

Shane’s eyes are crinkling, and Ryan’s heart is hammering because suddenly he’s a little nervous, but Shane looks so soft…so…endeared by him he knows he has nothing to worry about unless it’s the potential for a broken heart (he’s fallen hard and fast).

“There,” Ryan says softly, and he fiddles with the buttons on Shane’s stylish ‘Bahama-boy’ shirt. “Now we have nothing to interrupt us.”

“Nothing except the ghoul that followed me home from that haunted hotel,” Shane agrees and Ryan freezes for a minute before Shane smiles and he gives Shane a light smack on the chest.

“You’re only gonna cock block yourself if you’re not careful,” Ryan warns him.

“I’m sorry,” Shane says, but his eyes dance.

“No, you’re not,” Ryan sighs, and Shane’s mouth covers his own. 

“No,” he says almost-remorsefully. “I’m really not.”

“I don’t know why I put up with you,” Ryan sighs, but Shane is kissing the soft spot just beneath his ear, and he says, “You love me,” and it’s light and teasing, but Ryan says, “God help me, I do,” and Shane takes his face in his hands and kisses him again.

His hands go back down to the hem of Ryan’s shirt until Ryan’s t-shirt is rucked up over his head and Shane grabs at his biceps and gives them a squeeze before dancing down to his waist, feeling each inch of exposed skin in turn. Then his shorts are slid down his hips and he finds himself lying back on his bed in just his boxers as Shane undoes his belt, sliding it out of it’s loops and dropping it to the floor.

Ryan licks his lips as he watches him, Shane’s shirt hanging open on his shoulders like a curtain, as he toes out of his shoes and socks and drops his utterly, ridiculously, stupidly sexy skinny jeans to the floor after it and his shirt follows suit as Shane drops it behind him and crawls up after Ryan on the bed.

Ryan’s hand hooks over the back of Shane’s neck to pull him in to kiss as Shane’s hands run over his abs and his chest.

“Fuck, I feel like we’ve been waiting forever,” Ryan says breathlessly and Shane’s eyes twinkle as he begins to pull back.

“You know what, actually, pizza sounds good, right about now,” he says, and Ryan knows he’s teasing him but his legs wrap around Shane’s in a full-body vise. 

“After” he insists, not-quite whining, and Shane chuckles. “Demanding, aren’t we?”

“Maybe a little,” Ryan agrees, and Shane’s smile widens.

“But we’re not leaving this bed until you’ve fucked me.”

Shane’s eyebrows raise at that and Ryan blushes as he wonders if he’s had him all wrong. The position they’re in currently is certainly compromising enough with Shane between his legs, but that doesn’t necessarily mean-

“That sounds like a good rule to live by,” Shane says, interrupting his spiraling thoughts, and his voice has gotten deeper and Ryan settles back into the mattress like he wants to bathe in it—in his voice and this moment.

“Well, I am a genius,” Ryan agrees, and Shane kisses him again, “You are.”

After almost happening so many times, here is where it happens.

Here is where Ryan brushes his hands down Shane’s sides for the first time and offers to suck him, and Shane says yes.

Here is where Ryan sees Shane splayed out in his bed for the first time, where he pulls his boxer shorts down and takes his length into his mouth like he’s something holy, where he sucks on the head of his cock and hears Shane moan, completely unabashed and without any shame, for the first time.

Here is where he bobs his head and looks up from beneath his lashes as Shane calls him a good boy again and again until he's drunk off of it. Here is where he takes Shane deeper and deeper until Shane has to tell him to pull off or he’ll come down his throat. 

Here is where he says he wouldn't mind, but Shane pulls him up and pinches his thigh and reminds him of his words-that they're not to leave the bed until he's fucked him. 

Here is where Shane pulls Ryan out of his boxers and throws them behind him for the first time, where he runs his big hands up and up Ryan’s thighs as he swallows him down.

Here is where Ryan fumbles as he passes Shane the infamous (but not industrial-sized) bottle of lube into his hands.

Here is where Ryan guides Shane’s hand in his own, beneath his cock, behind his balls and between his cheeks. Here is where he shows him just where to crook his fingers as they make their way inside him.

Here, Shane. 

Here, here, _here._

“I’m clean,” Ryan tells him, and Shane repeats the words after him. They don’t bother with condoms after that.

Ryan trusts that Shane isn’t fucking anyone else, and he supposes Shane must trust him too.

Ryan slicks Shane up and his hands shake only a little bit.

“I’m going to be careful,” Shane promises him.

“I know, baby,” Ryan says, even as his throat bobs with nerves and anticipation. 

He’s a bit bigger than his dildo, Ryan’s learned from the way his cock fit in his mouth, so that makes him only a little more nervous than he was before.

But Shane is a gentle man, and Ryan is grateful for that more than ever as he takes his time to push himself inside and his arms shake with effort as he holds himself up and holds himself back.

It’s definitely a stretch. Ryan’s eyes are tightly closed, and Shane kisses his face all over as he waits for Ryan to adjust. He presses kisses to his eyelids, his nose, the apples of his cheeks.

“You okay, baby?” he asks, and he sounds so strained that it almost makes Ryan laugh.

“I’m okay,” Ryan promises him, “Just…give me a second.”

He’s a patient man too. He holds himself steady and Ryan loves him. His face is full of concentration and Ryan loves him more.

“Okay,” Ryan says, when it’s been about a full minute and Shane kisses his forehead. 

“You sure?”

“Yes,” Ryan answers and he giggles a bit too. God, they’re finally doing it. “Fuck, just…move.”

“Okay,” Shane says, and he begins the slow drag of pulling himself out, and Ryan exhales with it, expels it.

He inhales and it comes back, filling him in the way he’s come to love about his ridiculous blue dildo and more.

_‘I’m sorry you only have plastic to work with for now,’_ Shane had texted him that night. Now Ryan knows.

God, nothing beats the real thing.

Shane is still slowly moving, careful as though he might break in half. To be fair, he’s big enough it almost feels like he could (if he wasn’t prepped as much as he was, fuck knows, he might’ve).

“Faster,” Ryan breathes, and Shane nips at his jaw.

His cock finally brushes against his prostate and Ryan lets out a choked-off moan. “Fuck.”

“More?” Shane asks, and his voice is gravely again, and Ryan’s arms loop around Shane’s neck, he smears a kiss against his scruffy cheek. “More.”

Shane readjusts his hold on him, lifts his thigh up underneath one big, steadying hand.

“Hah,” Ryan groans as Shane begins to fuck him in earnest. “Hah, fuck, fuck, Shane.”

“I got you,” Shane murmurs, “I got you.”

“More, fuck, Shane, harder, please,” Ryan whines, clutching at him, desperately. 

Shane’s jaw is set, “I got you,” he says again, and he’s fucking him so hard the bed is rocking-his headboard bumps against the wall, until Ryan is about out of his mind with pleasure.

“Fuck,” Ryan sobs, “Fuck me, Shane, fuck. I need you, fuck-”

Shane growls and Ryan whimpers, holding on for dear life as Shane fucks him like he’s desperate for it, like it’s the one thing, the only thing he’s ever needed. 

Shane’s hand wraps around his red, neglected cock and Ryan comes almost instantly, spilling hotly between them with a shout.

Boneless, Ryan falls back as Shane moves him, adjusts him again so his legs are both over his shoulders, his torso goes with him, his arms fall back with his head on his pillow, stretched out behind him, flexing and unfurling with the sheer force of it.

Shane’s hips piston, and Ryan is left admiring the long miles of pale skin and musculature, Shane’s hands are on his hips, pressing indents into his skin, his knuckles are white, the bruises he’ll leave tomorrow will be faintly purple and green.

Now that the edge has been taken off Ryan sees how beautiful Shane is when he’s taking when he needs, the way his hair flops over his eyes, the way the tendons stand out in his neck.

“Come, come inside me, please,” Ryan says, and Shane’s hips stutter as his eyes flicker up to meet his gaze.

“I want you to,” Ryan goads him, and Shane lifts a shaking hand to his face, his thumb swipes around the edge of his mouth, catching on his lower lip. Ryan’s tongue swipes over the pad of his thumb, he watches as Shane’s eyes grow impossibly dark.

“Please,” Ryan begs breathlessly, and Shane’s hand flutters around his jaw, and hovers around his neck.

Ryan elongates it, lets him wrap it around him and press, just hard enough to impede his breath.

“Please, daddy,” he gasps and that’s all it takes before Shane is suddenly gripping him tighter than he was before and he’s filling Ryan up with a quiet groan against his mouth and coming like liquid desire, hot inside him.

Ryan arches his back, pressing his neck into Shane’s hand, his hand back in Shane’s hair as he moans into their kiss.

Just when he thinks he’s beginning to see spots, Shane lets go, stilling inside him, and takes a second to catch his breath.

“Jesus Christ,” Ryan says weakly, and Shane lets out a breathless laugh, pressing their sweaty foreheads together, and gives him a brief sweet kiss.

“Hope it lived up to the hype,” Shane says, and it’s teasing but maybe just the littlest bit unsure as he carefully extracts himself from Ryan’s warm heat, kissing each thigh as he sets his legs back down on the mattress.

“Fuck, no,” Ryan says emphatically and Shane’s head whips to look at him before Ryan turns red. “Wait, shit, no I mean, it was _so much better_ than I even thought it could be,” he says and his voice is a little scratchy but Shane definitely doesn’t look like he minds.

Shane takes him by the chin and kisses him again before fumbling with the tissue box on the side table to wipe them both down with a handful of Kleenex.

Ryan lets him, watching him with so much fondness as Shane concentrates on the task at hand that he thinks his heart may actually burst.

“Well I guess we better eat if we’re going to gather strength to do that again,” Shane says diplomatically and Ryan grins.

“It’s like you read my mind.”

“Oh, Ryan,” Shane sighs, but he gives him a wink as he begins to roll off the bed, reaching for his boxer briefs and putting them back on, and then he tosses Ryan’s own pair back to him. “Not mind-reading again.”

“Hey. That’s not…completely outside the realm of possibility,” Ryan insists as he pulls his underwear back on but he’s grinning so that Shane knows he’s arguing for the sake of arguing with him.

“You’re not going to score one with the Boogaras with this argument,” Shane warns him, handing him his shirt and Ryan puts it on over his head, his face peaking out as he debates: “Hey, I think its safe to say I already did.”

Shane pauses to look at him. “What?”

“Just scored,” Ryan says, light dancing behind his eyes. “Right now. With a Shaniac. _The_ Shaniac.”

Shane’s eyes are crinkling with mirth as he approaches the bed. “You-you idiot, I scored too.”

Ryan stands on the mattress, smile widening, “Did you?” he asks innocently, before whooping with laughter as Shane makes a jump for him. He’s fast but not fast enough and before he knows it Shane is lifting him over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry.

“Hey, _hey,”_ Ryan squeals, but Shane is ruthless, and he doesn’t set him down until they’re in the kitchen, where he gently deposits him back safely onto the ground.

“Fuck,” Ryan says, a little breathless after being bent in half over his stomach and laughing, “You’re stronger than you look.”

Shane’s eyes are twinkling, and he generously doesn’t mention how he’d been lifting him to fuck him just minutes ago even though Ryan’s thighs certainly haven’t forgotten. Instead he says, “That’s how us Shaniacs stay in shape. We bench Boogaras for breakfast.”

Ryan wheezes. “That doesn’t even make sense.”

“You don’t make any sense,” Shane counters, and Ryan recognizes the argument and dissolves into giggles.

Ryan bends over the oven to take out the pizza, and when he turns he catches Shane staring at his butt.

Flushed (probably from the oven) Ryan raises a brow.

“I’m just thinking about your cute little butt’s welfare,” Shane says innocently. “Is he okay?”

Ryan blushes. _“It’s_ fine now," he corrects him. He sets the pizza in front of them. “Tomorrow, we’ll see.”

“We will, will we?” Shane asks casually but Ryan knows him enough to know what the real question is.

“Yes,” he says, cutting the pizza with more force than necessary, and for a moment it feels like he’s channeling his mother as he says, “Cause if you think you’re leaving after we fuck again tonight you have another thing coming.”

Shane sputters with laughter and he comes around behind Ryan to kiss at his neck and then his head, pressing his lips into Ryan’s hair. “I wouldn’t dream of it.”

“Hmm,” Ryan says, but he’s smiling anyway. “I know.”

And somehow, he did. 

He knew in that moment that what Shane said true in the way that he knew that, while this was their first time, it certainly wasn’t their last.

He knew in the way that Shane crinkled his eyes at him over the kitchen counter that while Shane wasn’t officially his boyfriend yet, he wanted to be. 

And he knew in the way that Shane fed him pizza, in the way he pulled him back into bed; in the way that he rocked into him for the second time that night; in the way that he cleaned him reverently after; in the way that he wrapped himself around Ryan like a second skin, warm and lovely and full of life and movie magic; that while they hadn’t quite said it officially just yet, he loved him, too. 


End file.
